tAn elementary kinetic model is established to represent the coupled behavior of (electro)-chemistry,transport and degradation processes in the porous Ni/YSZ anode of solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC). Thismodel is applied to support the development and evaluation of solid carbon formation mechanisms atNi/YSZ anodes. The simulation of cells, operated on partially reformed hydrocarbons, show that perfor-mance and degradation are influenced significantly by the operation temperature and applied potential.Specifically at OCV and high temperature (>1000 K), a surface carbon layer is formed which covers Ni sur-face and Ni/YSZ/gas-phase three-phase boundary, blocking heterogeneous and charge-transfer reactions.However, at lower temperature (